Arson attacks on ballot drop boxes in Washington and Oregon linked, police say – National & International News – MON 28Oct2024

Arson attacks on ballot drop boxes in Washington and Oregon linked, police say.

Israel bans UN’s Palestinian refugee organization.

NATIONAL NEWS

Arson attacks on ballot drop boxes in Washington and Oregon linked, police say 

Shortly after midnight last night, police in Portland, OR, responded to an arson attack on a ballot drop box. Fortunately, the fire suppression system inside the ballot box was able to prevent damage to all but three of the hundreds of ballots inside. Election officials have reached out to the voters whose ballots were damage to provide them with new ballots. 

Then about 4 hours later in Vancouver, WA, (just across the Columbia River from Portland) another ballot box at a transit station was attacked. In that case, the fire suppression system did not work as intended and the hundreds of ballots inside the box were incinerated. Local election officials have urged any voters who put their ballot in that box any time after 11:00 a.m. on Saturday to contact the local election auditor’s office for a replacement ballot. 

Due to the similarity of the incendiary devices used, police say that the two attacks are connected. They also believe these attacks are linked to similar incident in Vancouver on October 8.

According to a bulletin published today by the Department of Homeland Security, domestic extremists have been encouraging like-minded individuals to “intimidate voters or election staff”. Some have also “promoted methods of sabotaging ballot drop boxes” and encouraged violence against “ideological opponents” as well as local election officials.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Israel bans UN’s Palestinian refugee organization 

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted overwhelmingly today to ban the UN Relief and Works Agency from operating within Israel, labeling the agency a terrorist organization. 

Since 1948, when self-described Zionist terrorist brigades drove hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in what is now Israel, UNRWA has had a special mandate to provide humanitarian assistance to the displaced and their descendants. International laws and agreements guarantee these Palestinians and their descendants a “right of return” to Israel under a future peace settlement.

UNRWA has been key to providing assistance and keeping track of millions displaced Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories (Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem), as well as in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. UNRWA’s role enabling the displaced to maintain “genuine connections with the land” also helps them to maintain their right of return. It is for this reason that UNRWA has long been vilified by Israel. 

Deadly vendetta

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed over 200 UNRWA staff members in Gaza. Israel has also hindered UNRWA’s operations, particularly their role in providing life-saving food and medical aid in Gaza. In January of this year (the same day that the International Court of Justice found that Israel was plausibly committing genocide in Gaza), Israel accused about a dozen UNRWA employees of taking part in the October 7 attacks on Israel. Israel never provided any proof of this claim, and numerous investigations by media organizations, UN member states, and the UN itself found no truth in these claims. Nevertheless, the damage was done. Based on Israel’s false claims, over a dozen countries, including the US, pulled hundreds of billions of dollars in funding for UNRWA, severely undermining its humanitarian mission in Gaza.

Earlier this month, Israel announced plans to evict UNRWA from its main office in Jerusalem. Israel plans to turn the complex (which is part of the occupied territories) into Jewish-only apartment units, a violation of international law. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Israel not to pass the legislation banning UNRWA, which is currently the main organization still providing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The obstruction of UNRWA, and other agencies providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, would also make it illegal under us law for the US to continue providing weapons aid to Israel. However, Secretary Blinken earlier this year certified to Congress that Israel was not blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, despite having credible information from agencies within the State Department that Israel is systematically blocking aid.